I can’t believe it’s beentwenty-five years since Mystery ScienceTheater 3000 first aired. The new 25th Anniversary Edition box set containsfour episodes that were previously unreleased on DVD – Moon Zero Two, The Day TheEarth Froze, The Leech Woman and Gorgo. That’s two Joel episodes and twoMike episodes. On a bonus disc are two fan-favorite episodes, Mitchell (which is one of my personalfavorites) and The Brain That Wouldn’tDie. There is also a three-part documentary on the series and several otherbonus features. And it all comes in an attractive tin case. Yes, this isperhaps the best box set for the series that’s been released so far.

Disc 1: Moon Zero Two

The first disc featuresan early episode from 1990, when Josh Weinstein provided the voice of TomServo. The gang is subjected to a terrible science fiction film, and during itsfirst scene, they remark, “It looks likethey’re shooting this out of the back of a van.” When one character says, “You can’t tell this man anything aboutanything,” Crow adds, “But feel freeto tell him something about nothing, or a little about a lot.” On the moonbase, a girl says, “It’s funny to thinkthat with no air out there, nobody can just open up a window.” Joelresponds, “Oh, we’ve done that, but youjust have to be really fast.”

When one character isinterrupted by another character, the gang jumps to his defense: “Hey, pal, I’ve got a small part. Let mefinish my own lines, if you don’t mind.” Some characters are attempting tocapture a giant sapphire asteroid. One of the astronauts muses: “A six thousand ton jewel. How would you liketo meet the broad who could hang that around her neck?” Joel comments, “Oh, she’s probably got a boyfriend.” Themovie is on the dull side, and Crow jokes, “Inspace, no one can hear you yawn.”

As always, there areplenty of pop culture references, including The Beatles, David Bowie, and Fawlty Towers. During a break, the gangre-enacts the first moon landing. This DVD includes an introduction by HammerFilms historian Constantine Nasr, who talks about why Moon Zero Two is a bad film, but also talks about its merits. The Moon Zero Two theatrical trailer is alsoincluded.

Disc 2: The Day The Earth Froze

The second disc containsa Joel episode from 1992. It begins with a short film, Here Comes The Circus, before the feature, The Day The Earth Froze. Early on, the film’s narrator says onecharacter would “save the village fromthe most horrible, cruel misfortune it would ever know.” Tom Servo clarifies,“The Reagan-Bush administration.”When there’s a shot of a bear, the gang jokes, “John Irving wrote the screenplay.” Perfect. When a witch says “You’ll never see the face of your prettysister again,” the gang asks, “Can wesee the other parts?”

The witch demandssomething called Sampo, leading to one of the series’ funniest comedy breaks,with Joel and the robots guessing what a sampo is. It ends with a message onscreen: “If you know what a Sampo is, writeit on a piece of paper, throw it away and then try not to think about it.You’ll be glad you did.”

This episode contains popculture references to The Beach Boys, StarWars, Popeye, Gilligan’s Island, Macbeth, Flashdance, JackKerouac, Monty Python’s Flying Circus,Stalag 17, Billy Idol and The Birds, among others. This DVDcontains “MST Hour Wraps,” which are the introductions and conclusions to thetwo episodes of Mystery Science TheaterHour that this show was divided into. The theatrical trailer for The Day The Earth Froze is alsoincluded.

Disc 3: The Leech Woman

The third disc contains alater Mike Nelson episode, with Pearl and the apes. The Leech Woman opens with an old woman slowly walking down a hall.Crow quips, “It’s so embarrassing havingto report your own death.” While the doctor’s wife is explaining why shedrinks, the doctor stands blandly, blankly in the background, leading Mike tojoke, “Still not my line, do not act.”(Later Crow says, “You know, he’s amaster of not acting.”) When the doctor finally sees the old woman, thegang jokes, “Well, the tests came back,and it turns out you’re old.”

There is plenty of stockfootage, which the gang dutifully points out and makes fun of. When some stockfootage begins, Crow says, “Meanwhile,thousands of miles away in actual Africa.” And then: “And now back to our set.” During footage of the Africans dancing,Mike (in the tone of a documentarian) says, “Sadly, this tribe of extras no longer exists.” Later, there is abar called Bar, so they joke, “Oh, I lovegoing to Bar. I usually order sandwich and have drink.”

During one of the breaks,there is a great bit about the nanites going on strike. The DVD includes “LifeAfter MST3K: Mary Jo Pehl,” in which Mary Jo talks about traveling and writing,as well as Cinematic Titanic. She talks about how the experience of working on MST3K has shaped her life. Thetheatrical trailer for The Leech Womanis also included.

Disc 4: Gorgo

The fourth disc alsocontains a later Mike Nelson episode. That obnoxious bastard Leonard Maltinmakes an appearance in this episode. I can’t help but thoroughly detest thatguy – I’m sure you understand. He pitches his fucking book. Other than that,this is a really great episode. One of the characters looks like SamuelBeckett, so during a break the gang puts on a special one-act play, Waiting For Gorgo.

When the monster comesashore in Ireland, the guys joke, “Sorry,I’m a little lost, can you tell me how to get to Tokyo?” The next morning,when an angry group has gathered outside a building, Tom Servo jokes: “Open the pub. Come on, it’s 9 a.m.” Whenthe main character is submerged, Crow says, “If they don’t let me up to go soon, it will be a yellow submarine.”At one point, Gorgo is transferred to a circus. When we see a shot of a pantherin a cage, the guys joke, “Free Huey.”

As you might guess, thisone contains references to Godzilla, Gamera, Mothra and other monsters. Thereare also references to The PoseidonAdventure, Jaws, Hamlet and Lulu. The DVD includes ashort documentary, Ninth Wonder Of TheWorld: The Making Of Gorgo. There is information on the films that led upto Gorgo, as well as information onthe King brothers and on the actors, including several that were uncredited.The bonus material also includes the theatrical trailer for Gorgo and, for some reason, LeonardMaltin plugging his new book (I still hate that guy).

Disc 5: Mitchell/The Brain That Wouldn’t Die

The special fifth disccontains two of the series’ best episodes, both from 1993: Mitchell, which was Joel’s final episode, and The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, which was Mike’s first episode. Mitchell is one of my favorites, and I’mglad to finally have it on DVD (I bought it a couple of other times, but gaveit as gifts to friends). In an early scene, Mitchell asks, “All those guns loaded?” John Saxonanswers: “Some of them. Not always surewhich.” Crow jokes, “They’re randomlyloaded. It’s a little game I play.” Linda Evans shows up in a fur and asksMitchell for a beer. Crow says: “You like‘em half empty? Some of them got cigarettes in them.” During a slow carchase they joke, “Hot merging action”and “I’ve seen faster funeral processions.”Then, a little later, they point out, “Hey,the headlight fixed itself.” When John Saxon asks Mitchell, “How do you like your Scotch?” the ganganswers for him: “By the quart.”

This episode containsreferences to KC & The Sunshine Band, Deep Purple, Kurt Vonnegut, and TheLovin’ Spoonful. There is also a bonus feature, “Last Flight Of Joel Robinson:Making The Mitchell Episode,” which includes interviews with Joel Hodgson,Trace Beaulieu and Kevin Murphy. They talk about the transition, but Joeldoesn’t say why he wanted to leave.

At the beginning of The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, the robotstrain Mike, preparing him for this week’s film. When a doctor on screen says, “I should have known he was as good as deadwhen they wheeled him in,” Tom Servo says, “’Cause he got me as his doctor.” The doctor’s son asks forpermission to take over. Crow jokes: “Haveat him. We’ll make it a closed casket.”

This episode containsreferences to The Beatles and MontyPython’s Flying Circus. Also, in the voice of Darth Vader, there is the line,“Luke, join me or you’ll star in CorvetteSummer.” There is a bonus feature, an interview with actor Marilyn (Hanold)Neilson, who says the first time she ever saw the film was the night before theinterview. She also mentions how her name is spelled incorrectly in the film’scredits.

Documentary: Return To Eden Prairie

Return To Eden Prairie is a three-part documentary on the series(parts are included on each of the first three discs). The first part focuseson some of the show’s crew, and includes interviews with Jef Maynard (artdirector/set designer), Beez McKeever (prop master/costume designer) andPatrick Brantseg (art director/actor). Most of the time is spent focused on thecostumes and sets of the show’s later years.

The second part is for methe most interesting, and includes interviews with Joel Hodgson(creator/writer/actor), Trace Beaulieu (writer/actor), Kevin Murphy(writer/actor) and Jim Mallon (producter/director/actor). This part focuses onthe inception of the series. Joel talks about how he used to do stand-up, andhe started making robots from found objects. He mentions Silent Running as an inspiration for the series, but interestinglythere is no mention whatsoever of TheRocky Horror Picture Show. There is also footage of the set being built.

The third part alsofeatures interviews with those cast members, along with Mary Jo Pehl and PaulChaplin. One thing I didn’t know before was that Joel Hodgson got the name Crowfrom that Jim Carroll song (by the way, that song is from the Catholic Boy album, one of the bestrecords ever recorded). One thing that stands out is that there is no interviewwith Mike Nelson.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: 25th Anniversary Edition is scheduledto be released on November 26, 2013 through Shout! Factory.

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I can’t believe it’s been
twenty-five years since Mystery Science
Theater 3000 first aired. The new 25th Anniversary Edition box set contains
four episodes that were previously unreleased on DVD – Moon Zero Two, The Day The
Earth Froze, The Leech Woman and Gorgo. That’s two Joel episodes and two
Mike episodes. On a bonus disc are two fan-favorite episodes, Mitchell (which is one of my personal
favorites) and The Brain That Wouldn’t
Die. There is also a three-part documentary on the series and several other
bonus features. And it all comes in an attractive tin case. Yes, this is
perhaps the best box set for the series that’s been released so far.
Disc 1: Moon Zero Two
The first disc features
an early episode from 1990, when Josh Weinstein provided the voice of Tom
Servo. The gang is subjected to a terrible science fiction film, and during its
first scene, they remark, “It looks like
they’re shooting this out of the back of a van.” When one character says, “You can’t tell this man anything about
anything,” Crow adds, “But feel free
to tell him something about nothing, or a little about a lot.” On the moon
base, a girl says, “It’s funny to think
that with no air out there, nobody can just open up a window.” Joel
responds, “Oh, we’ve done that, but you
just have to be really fast.”
When one character is
interrupted by another character, the gang jumps to his defense: “Hey, pal, I’ve got a small part. Let me
finish my own lines, if you don’t mind.” Some characters are attempting to
capture a giant sapphire asteroid. One of the astronauts muses: “A six thousand ton jewel. How would you like
to meet the broad who could hang that around her neck?” Joel comments, “Oh, she’s probably got a boyfriend.” The
movie is on the dull side, and Crow jokes, “In
space, no one can hear you yawn.”
As always, there are
plenty of pop culture references, including The Beatles, David Bowie, and Fawlty Towers. During a break, the gang
re-enacts the first moon landing. This DVD includes an introduction by Hammer
Films historian Constantine Nasr, who talks about why Moon Zero Two is a bad film, but also talks about its merits. The Moon Zero Two theatrical trailer is also
included.
Disc 2: The Day The Earth Froze
The second disc contains
a Joel episode from 1992. It begins with a short film, Here Comes The Circus, before the feature, The Day The Earth Froze. Early on, the film’s narrator says one
character would “save the village from
the most horrible, cruel misfortune it would ever know.” Tom Servo clarifies,
“The Reagan-Bush administration.”
When there’s a shot of a bear, the gang jokes, “John Irving wrote the screenplay.” Perfect. When a witch says “You’ll never see the face of your pretty
sister again,” the gang asks, “Can we
see the other parts?”
The witch demands
something called Sampo, leading to one of the series’ funniest comedy breaks,
with Joel and the robots guessing what a sampo is. It ends with a message on
screen: “If you know what a Sampo is, write
it on a piece of paper, throw it away and then try not to think about it.
You’ll be glad you did.”
This episode contains pop
culture references to The Beach Boys, Star
Wars, Popeye, Gilligan’s Island, Macbeth, Flashdance, Jack
Kerouac, Monty Python’s Flying Circus,
Stalag 17, Billy Idol and The Birds, among others. This DVD
contains “MST Hour Wraps,” which are the introductions and conclusions to the
two episodes of Mystery Science Theater
Hour that this show was divided into. The theatrical trailer for The Day The Earth Froze is also
included.
Disc 3: The Leech Woman
The third disc contains a
later Mike Nelson episode, with Pearl and the apes. The Leech Woman opens with an old woman slowly walking down a hall.
Crow quips, “It’s so embarrassing having
to report your own death.” While the doctor’s wife is explaining why she
drinks, the doctor stands blandly, blankly in the background, leading Mike to
joke, “Still not my line, do not act.”
(Later Crow says, “You know, he’s a
master of not acting.”) When the doctor finally sees the old woman, the
gang jokes, “Well, the tests came back,
and it turns out you’re old.”
There is plenty of stock
footage, which the gang dutifully points out and makes fun of. When some stock
footage begins, Crow says, “Meanwhile,
thousands of miles away in actual Africa.” And then: “And now back to our set.” During footage of the Africans dancing,
Mike (in the tone of a documentarian) says, “Sadly, this tribe of extras no longer exists.” Later, there is a
bar called Bar, so they joke, “Oh, I love
going to Bar. I usually order sandwich and have drink.”
During one of the breaks,
there is a great bit about the nanites going on strike. The DVD includes “Life
After MST3K: Mary Jo Pehl,” in which Mary Jo talks about traveling and writing,
as well as Cinematic Titanic. She talks about how the experience of working on MST3K has shaped her life. The
theatrical trailer for The Leech Woman
is also included.
Disc 4: Gorgo
The fourth disc also
contains a later Mike Nelson episode. That obnoxious bastard Leonard Maltin
makes an appearance in this episode. I can’t help but thoroughly detest that
guy – I’m sure you understand. He pitches his fucking book. Other than that,
this is a really great episode. One of the characters looks like Samuel
Beckett, so during a break the gang puts on a special one-act play, Waiting For Gorgo.
When the monster comes
ashore in Ireland, the guys joke, “Sorry,
I’m a little lost, can you tell me how to get to Tokyo?” The next morning,
when an angry group has gathered outside a building, Tom Servo jokes: “Open the pub. Come on, it’s 9 a.m.” When
the main character is submerged, Crow says, “If they don’t let me up to go soon, it will be a yellow submarine.”
At one point, Gorgo is transferred to a circus. When we see a shot of a panther
in a cage, the guys joke, “Free Huey.”
As you might guess, this
one contains references to Godzilla, Gamera, Mothra and other monsters. There
are also references to The Poseidon
Adventure, Jaws, Hamlet and Lulu. The DVD includes a
short documentary, Ninth Wonder Of The
World: The Making Of Gorgo. There is information on the films that led up
to Gorgo, as well as information on
the King brothers and on the actors, including several that were uncredited.
The bonus material also includes the theatrical trailer for Gorgo and, for some reason, Leonard
Maltin plugging his new book (I still hate that guy).
Disc 5: Mitchell/The Brain That Wouldn’t Die
The special fifth disc
contains two of the series’ best episodes, both from 1993: Mitchell, which was Joel’s final episode, and The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, which was Mike’s first episode. Mitchell is one of my favorites, and I’m
glad to finally have it on DVD (I bought it a couple of other times, but gave
it as gifts to friends). In an early scene, Mitchell asks, “All those guns loaded?” John Saxon
answers: “Some of them. Not always sure
which.” Crow jokes, “They’re randomly
loaded. It’s a little game I play.” Linda Evans shows up in a fur and asks
Mitchell for a beer. Crow says: “You like
‘em half empty? Some of them got cigarettes in them.” During a slow car
chase they joke, “Hot merging action”
and “I’ve seen faster funeral processions.”
Then, a little later, they point out, “Hey,
the headlight fixed itself.” When John Saxon asks Mitchell, “How do you like your Scotch?” the gang
answers for him: “By the quart.”
This episode contains
references to KC & The Sunshine Band, Deep Purple, Kurt Vonnegut, and The
Lovin’ Spoonful. There is also a bonus feature, “Last Flight Of Joel Robinson:
Making The Mitchell Episode,” which includes interviews with Joel Hodgson,
Trace Beaulieu and Kevin Murphy. They talk about the transition, but Joel
doesn’t say why he wanted to leave.
At the beginning of The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, the robots
train Mike, preparing him for this week’s film. When a doctor on screen says, “I should have known he was as good as dead
when they wheeled him in,” Tom Servo says, “’Cause he got me as his doctor.” The doctor’s son asks for
permission to take over. Crow jokes: “Have
at him. We’ll make it a closed casket.”
This episode contains
references to The Beatles and Monty
Python’s Flying Circus. Also, in the voice of Darth Vader, there is the line,
“Luke, join me or you’ll star in Corvette
Summer.” There is a bonus feature, an interview with actor Marilyn (Hanold)
Neilson, who says the first time she ever saw the film was the night before the
interview. She also mentions how her name is spelled incorrectly in the film’s
credits.
Documentary: Return To Eden Prairie
Return To Eden Prairie is a three-part documentary on the series
(parts are included on each of the first three discs). The first part focuses
on some of the show’s crew, and includes interviews with Jef Maynard (art
director/set designer), Beez McKeever (prop master/costume designer) and
Patrick Brantseg (art director/actor). Most of the time is spent focused on the
costumes and sets of the show’s later years.
The second part is for me
the most interesting, and includes interviews with Joel Hodgson
(creator/writer/actor), Trace Beaulieu (writer/actor), Kevin Murphy
(writer/actor) and Jim Mallon (producter/director/actor). This part focuses on
the inception of the series. Joel talks about how he used to do stand-up, and
he started making robots from found objects. He mentions Silent Running as an inspiration for the series, but interestingly
there is no mention whatsoever of The
Rocky Horror Picture Show. There is also footage of the set being built.
The third part also
features interviews with those cast members, along with Mary Jo Pehl and Paul
Chaplin. One thing I didn’t know before was that Joel Hodgson got the name Crow
from that Jim Carroll song (by the way, that song is from the Catholic Boy album, one of the best
records ever recorded). One thing that stands out is that there is no interview
with Mike Nelson.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: 25th Anniversary Edition is scheduled
to be released on November 26, 2013 through Shout! Factory.